Man sentenced for sexual assault in Skateworks case

Arthur Hirsch, The Baltimore Sun

A 19-year-old man was sentenced to prison Friday morning after the girl he sexually assaulted in a Woodlawn roller rink told the judge that since the crime she's been harassed, gotten into fights with schoolmates and become increasingly angry.

"I'm not myself anymore. I was deprived of who I am because of what they did," the victim said.

Kadeem R. Santiful, one of three males charged in the assault on the girl, who was 12 when the incident occurred at Skateworks in August 2010, was sentenced to 20 years, with 10 years suspended and credit for 17 months of time already served in jail and on home detention.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Ruth Ann Jakubowski told Santiful he has a "terrible" record of juvenile offenses, and warned that once he's released, if he violates the terms of his three-year probation, he will be imprisoned for another 10 years. "I promise I'll give you every day of it," she said.

Santiful, who was living in Baltimore when he was arrested, wore a black T-shirt and black jeans hanging loose off his waist. He told the judge in a barely audible voice that he took responsibility for himself and the other two defendants in the case, and apologized to the court and the family of the victim. He had pleaded guilty in May to a second-degree sex offense — the one charge remaining after prosecutors dropped 28 other counts against him.

The three suspects were charged with forcing the girl to have sex with them in a dark storage room at the rink. Assistant State's Attorney Stephanie Porter, who has been leading the prosecution, told the judge that Santiful had no prior adult criminal history, but his juvenile record includes drug offenses and a guilty plea to a fourth-degree sexual assault in 2007. She said Santiful had just completed a course of treatment in connection with that offense when the incident at Skateworks took place.

Porter called Santiful a "danger to the community" who has shown "absolutely zero insight into his own behavior. There's no expression of remorse, none at all."

The maximum term for a second-degree sex offense is 20 years, but Porter said sentencing guidelines call for seven to 13 years, and that's what she recommended. She said she was satisfied with the outcome.

"I think it's a fair sentence in light of the situation," said Porter.

Santiful's lawyer, Brandon R. Mead, agreed that the sentence was fair, although he said after the proceeding that he had hoped for a sentence between five and seven years. He told the judge that Santiful's girlfriend is due to give birth to their child in March, and he hoped that fact and the defendant's age would be taken into consideration.

Among the three Skateworks defendants, Santiful faced the most severe punishment.

Davon Perry, 26, of Baltimore County pleaded guilty this week to second-degree assault, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Earlier this month, a jury acquitted him on two more serious counts and could not reach a verdict on two others. He is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

Tracey W. Hankins, who was 15 when the incident occurred, was originally charged as an adult, but his case was later moved to the juvenile system, where outcomes of cases are not made public. He testified in Perry's trial that he was attending high school in the county.

The victim and her mother — who are not being identified because The Baltimore Sun does not identify victims of sex crimes — both spoke before the sentence was pronounced.

The girl broke into tears describing how she had been taunted repeatedly and gotten into fights with schoolmates, who claimed she invited the sexual assaults. Her mother said she had to move her daughter from one school to another several times, and that the once cheerful, straight-A student's grades had slipped as she became increasingly sad and angry.

"Please assist me in helping me build my daughter back up," the girl's mother told the judge, "by letting my daughter know this will not go unpunished and this is not OK."

A previous version of this story incorrectly named the charge to which Davon Perry pleaded guilty